Whether poop speeds through your gut like a bullet train or takes a more smell-the-roses approach could have more profound implications for your overall health than a first glance would suggest. According to a 2023 review that combined data from dozens of studies, distinct differences can be observed between the gut microbiomes of 'speeders' and 'slowpokes'.
Iranian media is claiming that the US used backdoors and/or botnets to disable networking equipment during the current war, and Chinese state media is dining out on the allegations.
NATO intercepted Russian strategic bombers and fighter jets that flew over the Baltic Sea on Monday, a muscular display of air power on the alliance's eastern flank away from the spotlight on the Middle East.
President Donald Trump's erratic moves aren't helping. The Iran war is damaging America's influence around the world and exacerbating tensions with countries already whipsawed by President Donald Trump's second term -- an erosion of power that could be tough to reverse as U.S. adversaries such as China take advantage.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Snchez on Sunday urged the EU to end its association agreement with Israel. read more
Gunman at Mexican pyramids carried materials related to 1999 Columbine massacre
www.pbs.org
... The gunman who opened fire on tourists at Mexico's iconic Teotihuacan pyramids carried materials that were apparently related to the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School, authorities said Tuesday, a day after the attack that killed a Canadian woman and left at least 13 people injured.
Although officials did not mention Columbine by name, they referred to several books and handwritten notes that belonged to the gunman and referenced attacks in the United States in April 1999. Monday marked the 27th anniversary of the massacre in Colorado.
Among the gunman's belongings was a photo modified by artificial intelligence showing him alongside the Columbine attackers, according to a state official who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to address the media. ...
@#121 ... Why are MAGAt Pedos so dumb? ...
If you have to ask ...
Low & Sweet Orchestra - Sometimes The Truth Is All You Get (1996)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
Somehow it all got turned around again
And it looked like I might lose the meaning
Sometimes the truth is all you get
There's a bum on my street
He wears an earring and a worn suit
I bought him donuts and wine
He wanted my change too
Sometimes the truth is all you get
Sometimes the truth is all you get
...
Trump could win back the nuclear codes. Biden should put guardrails on the nuclear arsenal -- now. (2024)
thebulletin.org
... On January 6, 2021, then-President Donald Trump inspired a mob attack on the US Capitol to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power to the Biden administration. Not only was this an unprecedented attack on American democracy, but it represented a serious national security threat. Many saw and see this as one of many examples of an unstable President Trump acting in dangerous, irrational ways. And throughout his time in office, Trump"like all presidents in the nuclear age"had the unilateral authority to launch the US nuclear arsenal.
At any moment, Trump could literally have ended the world with a phone call. Congressional approval is not needed, and the secretary of defense cannot stop a presidential order to unleash the US nuclear arsenal. The system is built for speed, not deliberation. The whole process, from presidential order to the launch of one or hundreds of nuclear warheads, would take just minutes.
The danger that Trump would do something catastrophic was so acute that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi desperately looked for ways to prevent the "unstable president from ... accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike," according to a letter Pelosi wrote in January 2021 to House Democrats in the wake of the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley was convinced that Trump had suffered "serious mental decline in the aftermath of the election" and took the extraordinary step of ordering his staff to come to him if they received a nuclear strike order from the president. "No matter what you are told, you do the procedure. You do the process. And I'm part of that procedure," Milley reportedly told the officers. "You never know what a president's trigger point is." ...
Poi Dog Pondering - Everybody's Trying (1990)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
[Verse 1]
I know you're bitter, but why, why, why?
Don't you know that two wrongs don't make a right?
It's not that simple, no
It's not that simple
[Chorus]
But everybody's trying to figure it out
Everybody's trying to work it on out
Everybody's trying to figure it out
Everybody's trying to work it on out
[Verse 2]
I feel so detached today, I don't know
I feel so detached today, I don't know, know, know
It's not that simple (No)
It's not that simple
[Chorus]
But everybody's trying to figure it out
Everybody's trying to work it on out
Everybody's trying to figure it out
Everybody's trying to work it on out
...
Watchdog requests Patel's calendar, security detail messages
thehill.com
... A watchdog organization has filed a new request for records pertaining to FBI Director Kash Patel, citing new reports of excessive alcohol use from the intelligence chief.
The request from the Democracy Forward Foundation (DFF) cites The Atlantic's recent report, "The FBI Director is MIA."
"If the Director of the FBI is a liability " the American people need to know," DFF President and CEO Skye Perryman said in a press release on Tuesday.
"News reports, including from The Atlantic, suggest that his levels of drinking and absentee leadership are not just unacceptable, but also a threat to the integrity of one of the most important law enforcement agencies in the country," Perryman continued. "If true, this is not a minor lapse in judgment or a personal issue to brush aside; this goes to whether the FBI is being led with the discipline, reliability, and seriousness the job demands." ...
It almost seems as if PM Takaichi seems to want to poke China. ...
Takaichi risks China's wrath with offering to Yasukuni Shrine
www.japantimes.co.jp
... Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made an offering to a shrine seen by Japan's neighbors as glorifying its wartime past, in a move that stops short of a visit but may still anger China and other neighboring nations.
Takaichi's offering of a sacred tree was made on the first day of a traditional spring festival at Yasukuni Shrine, according to local media, and is in line with similar moves by her predecessors, Shigeru Ishiba and Fumio Kishida, during their time in office. While her decision not to go to the shrine showed her more cautious stance on the issue, the leader of a party in Takaichi's ruling coalition visited the shrine on Tuesday, according to the Nikkei newspaper.
"My understanding is that Prime Minister Takaichi made an offering in a personal capacity, so we as the government are not in a position to comment on the matter," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said in a regular news briefing on Tuesday. Kihara didn't comment on the reported visit by Fumitake Fujita, co-leader of the Japan Innovation Party.
Tensions between Tokyo and Beijing remain strained following Takaichi's suggestion in parliament last year that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could constitute a legal justification for Japan to send troops. The comments triggered a backlash from China including trade curbs and travel warnings, putting the two Asian economies at loggerheads for months on issues spanning defense, diplomacy and the economy.
The latest offering may irritate China and other neighbors who see the shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, but the move shows that Takaichi has chosen to stay in line with the approach taken by Japanese leaders over the past decade to avoid stoking regional tensions. ...
Meanwhile ...
FAA investigating close call at JFK Airport between 2 passenger jets
abc7ny.com
... Two passengers jets aborted their landings after pilots were told to take evasive action while landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday afternoon.
American Airlines Flight #4464 originated in Indianapolis, Indiana with the call sign, "Brickyard" and veered into the path of Air Canada Flight #554, which originated in in Toronto, Canada with the call sign "Jazz 554."
The close call happened around 2:30 p.m.
In the air traffic control audio, anti-collision alarms are heard blaring in the tower and cockpit.
Controllers told pilots in both planes to take evasive actions and both jets aborted their landings. The pilots told the controllers they were responding to the RA alarm, which is the most serious of the anti-collision warnings pilots can get.
The two planes came within 350 feet vertically and .62 miles horizontally at their closest points, according to FlightRadar24. ...
@#9 ... In my area, the Hispanic labor force is practically gone. Construction and farming are grinding to a standstill. Good luck finding that affordable housing. They aren't building any. And good luck with those grocery prices when far less is getting planted or picked. ...
Not the first time I have seen a similar comment.
Significant parts of our economy seem to be based upon the dedication and labor of those undocumented aliens.
Farming, construction, to name two.
So, is the real problem those who come to the US looking for a better life, or the companies that hire those who may actually be illegal to hire?
Perhaps Pres Trump is going after the wrong crowd here.
To quote the Customs and Border Protection ...
An excerpt from the Border Patrol Union webpage that was deleted during fmr Pres Trump's first term:
web.archive.org
Walls and fences are temporary solutions that focus on the symptom (illegal immigration) rather than the problem (employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens).
Walls and fences are only a speed bump. People who want to come to the United States to obtain employment will continue to go over, under, and around the walls and fences that are constructed.
Walls and fences will undoubtedly result in an increase in fraudulent documents and smuggling through the Ports of Entry.
Walls and fences do not solve the issue of people entering the country legally and staying beyond the date they are required to leave the country, a problem which will undoubtedly increase as more walls and fences are constructed.
No wonder Pres Trump dislikes the SPLC ...
The Southern Poverty Law Center
www.splcenter.org
... The SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people. ...
In Iran, the regime has indeed changed: It's less restrained, more hard-line
www.csmonitor.com
... Every night, thousands of fervent, flag-waving supporters of Iran's Islamic Republic take to the streets to vent vitriolic rage at their American and Israeli attackers.
They celebrate surviving 40 days of war, a fragile ceasefire, and now negotiations in which they believe Iran has the upper hand.
The chants also herald another change: The ascendance of a new hard-line cadre of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has stepped up as the United States and Israel have assassinated scores of senior military and political figures, including the longtime supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
U.S. President Donald Trump, invoking an initial and oft-cited war aim, says he has achieved "regime change" in Iran, and that the new leaders are "less radical and much more reasonable" than before.
But analysts say the decapitation campaign has, instead, enabled the rise of the most hard-line elements of the IRGC, which now feel freshly emboldened and less willing to compromise to end the war. ...
@#4
Relevant ... how?